Editorial process
Submitting online
The Journal is currently closed for submissions. The Utrecht Journal of International and European Law does encourage authors to contact the editorial board with ideas for articles or case notes they are planning to write. The editorial board is more than happy to discuss with authors their ideas and how well they fit within the journal and upcoming issues.
Peer review process
Preceding the review of incoming articles, a Call for Papers is distributed among scholars and institutions. Each Call for Papers includes a deadline, usually limited to three months after the publication of the Call for Papers. All submissions received after the deadline will not be reviewed for the forthcoming issue. Registered readers of the journal will receive calls for papers by email. To register, go to: .
In order to ensure the academic quality and professionalism of Utrecht Journal of International and European Law, it is necessary to devote the proper amount of time and energy to editing the articles we accept for publication. The reviewing process consists of the following three stages.
The Journal considers all submissions it receives. Incoming submissions are first reviewed on an anonymous basis by two Executive Editors of the Board of Editors, comprised of students and recent graduates. The Executive Editors will review whether the submission meets the criteria of the Journal, check whether citation guidelines are followed, and in case of a thematic Call for Papers, determine whether the article is appropriate for the theme.
Upon acceptance by the Board of Editors, the article will be referred to two external peer reviewers that are experts in the relevant field. Following the anonymous external peer review, we will contact the author about the results of this review and share any comments or suggestions from the peer reviewer about the article. The author will then be given an appropriate deadline to implement these points. This process involves close contact with the author, and it is therefore imperative that the author is available during this period.
Following the external peer review, the Board of Editors will refer to submission to a specialist language editor, which is a (near) native English speaker with an academic legal background. The author is then requested to implement these language and style related comments.
As a final stage, an Executive Editor will typeset the article in our Journal format and make sure all relevant information is present.
In general, an author should expect a timeline of three to four months between submission and final publication.
Publication Types
Research Articles
Research articles, published in Utrecht Journal of International and European Law, are a minimum of 7,000 and a maximum of 10,000 words (including any footnotes and references) and should be based on a topic related to international and/or European law. Research articles don't have to focus on a specific topic (although some Calls for Papers are focus on a specific theme). It is imperative that articles comply with scientific standards; therefore each article is subject to extensive review by the Board of Editors. Research articles are subject to peer review.
Case Notes
It is possible to submit short case notes to Utrecht Journal of International and European Law. These case notes should be approximately 3-5 pages in length and should describe and, most importantly, analyze a recent case that is relevant for either international or European law. Case notes are not subject to the referee process.
Book Reviews
It is possible to submit a short book review to Utrecht Journal of International and European Law. Book reviews should be approximately 2 to 4 pages in length and should concern a recently published book that is relevant for either international or European law. Book reports are not subject to the referee process.
Interviews
It is also possible to submit an interview with a legal scholar or other person of interest in the fields of international or European law. When the interview has not yet been conducted, please reach out to the journal first to check whether we are able to publish the interview in the upcoming issue. Interviews are not subject to the referee process.
Conference Report
Conference reports may be submitted for publication and should provide an insight in current academic debate about a contemporary and, in the case of Special Issues, thematic topic. In doing so, authors are to write clearly and are expected to draw a strong picture of arguments used at the conference. Conference reports may be up to 8,000 words long (including references).
Editorial policies
The journal is happy to accept submissions of papers that have been loaded onto preprint servers or personal websites, have been presented at conferences, or other informal communication channels. These formats will not be deemed prior publication. Authors must retain copyright to such postings. Authors are encouraged to link any prior posting of their paper to the final published version within the journal, if it is editorially accepted.
Members of the editorial team/board are permitted to submit their own papers to the journal. In cases where an author is associated with the journal, the same anonymous review procedure will be applied and the author will be removed from all editorial tasks for that paper. Any competing interests must be declared with the submission and any resulting publication.
Members of the Board of Editors as well as external peer reviewers will assess the submission’s scope, structure, accuracy, academic language, references, its contribution to academia, and the author’s capacity to distinguish facts from opinions.
Authors are free to choose which referencing methods to use, as long as the same method is used throughout the article.
Please note that all submissions automatically pass through an anti-plagiarism check. To avoid relays/rejections, please ensure that all content that has been sourced from elsewhere clearly includes citation details and quotation marks, where appropriate.
